Some Enchanted Evening
by books-music-theater
Summary: A new twist on the Jarcy saga... Their relationship didn't last through high school, but here they are meeting for the first time in nearly 10 years. Will anything come of it?


**Author's Note:** Hello my darlings! I have returned with some sudden inspiration - who knows where it came from! Just so you know, this fanfic takes place in a different... reality, I guess you could say, from **Serendipity**, so a few things are a little different (e.g. not only are Jess and Darcy not married/pregnant with twins, but they haven't seen each other in years). You'll see. :)

Also, kudos to anybody who got my reference to **South Pacific** in my title - ya know, "Some Enchanted Evening"? You see what I did there? I bet you did. ;)  
So anyway! Read on!

**Jess**

I take one step into the bar and pause. The back of a head across the room catches my eye immediately. My eyes slide down the backlit figure: broad shoulders, defined muscles, tall frame.

And of course I'd recognize those brown curls anywhere.

Darcy Hawthorne. What a stroke of fate. I haven't seen or talked to him since we broke up in high school. It was nothing major, really, just the fact that we realized we were both moving in different directions. We broke it off before it became too serious to really, truly hurt.

Or at least that's what we said.

I wonder if he'd recognize me right now. Whereas he hasn't changed a bit since our teen years, I look quite different. My long blond hair is now a choppy chocolate bob, and my eyes are now veiled by hipster-style glasses from too many years of squinting at sheet music. Feeling gutsier than usual, I decide to test my hypothesis.

I slide over to the bar and perch on the stool next to him. We exchange a casual nod and I order a drink. The clock on my phone reads 8:36 pm. I wait.

Typically in a scenario like this, it wouldn't take long for the guy to strike up a conversation or offer to buy the girl a drink. Two good-looking twenty-somethings at a bar would be flirting or at least sneaking glances at each other. Something is different tonight, though. Ten minutes pass without him as much as glancing in my direction. Another five pass, but his eyes stay glued to the football game on the TV screen in the corner of the room.

I start to think that maybe he has a girlfriend. It surprises me when I realize that I am hoping he doesn't. I surreptitiously peek over at his left hand. No wedding band.

I find myself smiling involuntarily.

By 9:00, I'm growing tired of my recon mission. It's about time for me to be heading home. But I decide to drop one last hint before I leave.

I watch the football game, waiting for the right moment. Right as a player fumbles the ball, I mutter, "Well, I could've seen that coming with my eyes half-shut."

He stiffens, and his head swivels to face me. A smile spreads across his face. "Jess. I knew it was you."

I smile back. "It's been a long time."

"Well, I guess it has, hasn't it?"

"I was wondering if you'd recognize me," I admit, "since I look a little different than the last time we talked." I twirl a chunk of dyed hair.

He grins. "Yeah, I'd say so. But I knew it was you," he repeats.

"Sure you did," I reply, "after I dropped the biggest hint ever!"

His cocky grin reappears. "No, I knew it was you from the minute you sat down. I just didn't know if _you_ recognized _me_."

I laugh at this, because he looks exactly like he did last I saw him, and we both know it.

"Besides," he continues, "the hair and the glasses didn't faze me."

"Oh really?" I put on my best fake oh-please-tell-me-more-oh-wise-one face.

"Really."

"And why might that be?" I ask playfully.

"Because of your eyes," he replies simply. He reaches for my glasses and slides them off my face. "I could never forget such beautiful eyes."

I look down shyly, blushing.

He tilts up my chin and puts my glasses back on me, looking directly into my eyes. There's a pause.

He leans closer and his voice drops to a whisper. "Do you ever wish we could just start over? No past, no regrets?"

It occurs to me that in my heart of hearts, I've always known the answer to this question. I just pushed it away and tried to forget about it because I thought it would never happen.

I examine the facts: I and some guy I haven't seen in who knows how many years just happened to be in the same place at the same time, and he basically just told me that he still wants to be with me. He just told me I'm beautiful, and he isn't so bad himself. And he's looking at me so solemnly that I never want to look away. If this isn't a sign from God, I don't know what is.

So I lean forward and place my lips on his. I pull away and voice the truth that's always been inside of me: "Every day since we broke up."

He smiles that smile that still makes me melt inside, and leans in for another kiss. I jump off the bar stool and wag my finger in his face. "Hey now, Mister!" I say faux-seriously, eyebrows raised. "What are you doing? We've never even met!"

He slides off of his bar stool and does a full, sweeping bow. "My apologies, Madam," he replies, with a playful glimmer in his eyes. "My name is Darcy Hawthorne. May I offer you my elbow instead?"

I can't help but laugh at his theatrics. He's the same old Darcy that I fell for in the sixth grade. I give him a curtsy. "How genial of you, good sir. My name is Jessica Delaney, and I would accept that elbow with gratitude."

And that's how we left the bar: arm in arm, walking down the street into our future.

**Author's Note:** So yeah, that was a little different than the Jarcy stuff that's out there right now, but I hope you liked it. I can kinda see something like that happening with the two of them. It was fun showing Jess's somewhat wild side contrasting with her usual scientific mindset (and she seems like a gal who couldn't possibly pass up and opportunity to use the scientific method). :)

I'd also just like to say thanks to everybody who has recently posted/updated fics! It's like opening a Christmas present every time I click on a new one.  
Happy 2014 to all, and as usual, lemme know whatcha thought!

Anna


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